Letters to Freshers: Presentation Problems

Let’s get one thing straight here. Going to university will force you to grow up whether you like it or not (well, for a lot of us anyway). Mum isn’t going to be there patting you on the back after you’ve had a few too many bevvy’s in East Slope Skint Tuesdays and now you’re wondering where it all went wrong after that £2 shot…

It was 9am and I woke with a start as my alarm clock rang away into my bleary and pounding head. It was a Wednesday after a Skint Tuesday where I had hit the drink particularly hard celebrating an unexpected essay win from writing it the night before (which I’m sure a lot of you will relate to).

Immediately I realised I would be fighting a monster of a hangover thanks to those tequila shots I let everyone force me to buy the night before. Swinging my legs off the side of the bed with my dizzy eyes closed and struggling to keep my stomach calm, I realised with a sickening dread that today was Presentation Day.

For all students, this is a less than pleasurable experience which involves standing up in front of a crowd of your peers and your tutor and praying to anyone who will listen that you’re conveying some sort of argument (and this is without the hangover).

Before I knew it I was sat in the hall in my own bubble of hell, wondering how I was going to get through the task at hand (I couldn’t tell you what I was wearing, as after my morning shower I had fallen over multiple times so took to choosing the nearest outfit in my wardrobe, regardless of the chilly winter weather).

Smelling of a brewery and clasping a 2 litre bottle of water to my pale head, I heard our group’s name being called and my stomach churned loudly with sickness and nerves. “Here we go”, I mumbled under my breath.

Needless to say the presentation on my part was a disaster. I spent the majority of the time swaying from left to right and staring at the carpet pattern in order to prevent myself throwing up all over the front row before finishing and heading straight back to bed.

So to all the students needing some advice out there; here is mine. Don’t be a silly sausage like me. Prepare for your presentations wisely. Put the tequila down!

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